Be that as it may, the personage of an aged relative
seems to grow in our memory
as we are told of a past time and society.
Maurice Halbwachs
“Historical Memory and Collective Memory”
1950
On May 9, 2015, Russia will hold celebrations in memory of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Second World War (in Europe). Even the youngest veterans are approximately ninety years old now. It seemed reasonable to expect, optimistically, that the change of generations ...
This has been the biggest military parade in Russia’s modern history: 16,000 servicemen, 200 army vehicles, 150 aircraft. Warships paraded elsewhere—from Vladivostok on the Pacific to Sebastopol on the Black Sea to Severomorsk in the Arctic to Baltiysk in the Baltic. The Moscow parade ...
If more far-reaching and serious political events did not occur in the world, considerably more attention would be devoted in Russian scientific circles and media to the attitude of Central-Eastern European countries to the Red Army’s victory in the Second World War. After all, in all the countries liberated by the Red Army in 1944–1945 a particular microcosm of ...
In the light of the geopolitical situation that has developed in relation to Russia’s foreign partners’ attitude to the country, the celebration of the 70th anniversary of victory in the Second World War will be a kind of litmus test both for Russia’s political elite and for the majority of the country’s ...
... of President Jacques Chirac’s participation in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Victory Day in Moscow on May 9, 1995. Invited by Boris Yeltsin, Jacques Chirac arrived in Moscow with some delay in order to avoid the military parade, as Russian troops involved in the conflict in Chechnya would take part in it.
The memorable and glorious dates of the Second World War provide President Francois Hollande an opportunity to demonstrate the willingness of France to mediate in overcoming the ...
This year, Russia and China will for the first time jointly commemorate their victory against fascism, both countries regarding this day primarily as a tribute to the heroic generations of the Russians and the Chinese who shouldered the burdens of World War II and ...
... legitimacy of incorporating the Baltic States into the Soviet Union formed the basis of the post-Soviet statehood of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. This “occupation doctrine” of the Baltic States (in an apt remark by Renald Kh. Simonyan, a Russian sociologist and researcher of the Baltic region) has led to a revision of these republics’ participation in the Great Patriotic War. This perception of the war as a fight against two occupying forces – Nazi and Soviet – laid ...
... unhappy about the defeat of the Qwantong Army that resulted in 600,000 POWs later being taken to Siberian camps, where over 60,000 of them died in the harsh environment.
Alexander Panov
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe officially refused to participate in Russia’s May 9 events in Moscow. However, the reason is hardly due to the war itself, and is more an expression of solidarity with Western leaders who boycott Moscow over Ukraine. In fact, Prime Minister Koizumi attended the military parade in Moscow ...
... Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna on the RMF FM radio station, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Grigory Karasin said
it was "a disgrace to Poland's diplomatic service" for the Polish Foreign Minister to insist on his interpretation of Russia's role in World War II and insinuate about the format for celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Victory Day by disputing the grounds for Moscow to serve as center for the festivities.
To be more precise, Mr. Schetyna was commenting on the proposal that Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski made in an interview on January ...
